Elm Street Bakery Details

Hot Brunch @ Elm Street Bakery

After spending repeated Sundays (okay, maybe it was just one but it felt like months) scrolling past mouth-watering pictures of dutch babies and wood fired eggs on @thepublicpig’s (Chef RJ Marvin) Instagram account, wondering what the heck #ElmSecretBrunch meant, I’d had enough. I was hell bent on making it to the bakery on a Sunday morning (more like noon) as soon as possible.

Two steps into the door and we’d found what we’d come for. Apparently it wasn’t all that much of a secret. The sign was clear as day. “Sunday Brunch is served at the bakery counter. Check out our new hot brunch selections.”

We headed to the counter and marveled at the picture perfect baked goods. You can find everything from bagels to muffins and macaroons, scones, bread, cookies and more. One of my all time favorites is the breakfast sandwich – a poached egg, slices of crispy bacon, a spicy aioli spread and arugula on thin slices of ESB bread. They’re bad-ass in every way. If you’re in for a quick coffee and a bite, get this.

Along with the normal (read: not-so-normal) breakfast sandwich, they also had bialy bagels and open faced sandwiches on Volkornbrot (German for brown bread) with cream cheese and lox ($7). The bialy, complete with sesame seeds, came equipped with a couple pieces of brined salmon, a small tree of dill, slices of red onion, capers, and a sauce I could not put my finger on. It was fantastic, if slightly difficult to tear into.

Brunch hot plates are served from 10 am- 1:45 pm. Order at the bakery counter, and pair with anything else from the menu. They’ll give you a buzzer (like Applebee’s) – your indication that your hot plates are ready. Pick them up at the side of the low counter. There’s no waiter service during brunch.

Fortunately we tried two of them. Unfortunately, we only tried two of them. The baked eggs came partially submerged in a pool of perfectly cooked garbanzo beans surrounded by chunky tomato sauce. The small crock was topped with a light yogurt sauce, and sprinkled with scallions, cilantro and what seemed to be red pepper flakes. Hidden inside it all were narrow bits of beef based sausage that packed a mild heat, and contrasted perfectly with the waxy texture of the chickpeas. We wasted no time digging in with the side of laffa bread, a variation of Middle Eastern flatbread or pita. I’ve never had anything like this ESB version. It was soft, fluffy, speckled with herbs and dusted with spices. It was incredibly delicious and comforting.

Next came the crispy on the outside, melt-in-your-mouth, creamy on the inside porchetta. It was pilled on top of an ESB slice of bread, a healthy dose of smooth calabrian aioli, and a layer of delightfully unhealthy kale. Two sunny-side up eggs covered the entire contents of the sandwich, seemingly ready to spill at any second. In fact, the yolks were cooked enough that they never actually ran the risk of drooling all over the plate below. The tangy piccalilli relish, comprised of different peppers, was the perfect ying to the silky pork’s yang.

The one hot plate we didn’t order – the Dutch Baby (puffed pancake) was filled with ricotta and berries on this given Sunday. It’s traditionally made with eggs, sugar, milk, flour and vanilla, and extends past the edges of the dish after baking in the oven.

Now this is what I call a creative, elegant take on breakfast. From the tray on which I received my fresh squeezed orange juice and mini bottle of Prosecco ($9), to the experience of watching Chef Marvin prepare an exceptional late-morning meal behind the wide open counter, Elm Street Bakery is the full package. I enjoy every minute spent in the inspiring atmosphere.

It begs the question, why can’t most brunches be intentional, creative and satisfying like this?

If you’re looking for weekly updates on #ElmSecretBrunch, keep an eye on @thepublicpig on Instagram – just about the only place you can find digital details.

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Emily is co-founder and Director of Storytelling at Step Out Buffalo. Her favorite things to do are eat, travel, and think. Emily is originally from Hamburg, NY and her out of town friends will tell you that she loves to talk about Buffalo any chance she gets.

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